The Secret to Better Sleep: Health for Body and Soul

As noted in our traditional sources, sleep is crucial for our body's health, so that "your food will be digested and your senses will rest" (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, chapter on taking care of the body according to nature). Our five senses demand complete rest. Any disturbances or lack of sleep can jeopardize our health!

Sleep is essential for all bodily systems—from cellular function and internal organs down to critical impacts on our cognitive abilities, emotional health, and behavior. Sleep affects growth and development, the immune system, appetite, blood pressure, and heart health. Lack of sleep increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, and infections. Insufficient sleep hampers decision-making abilities, attention to detail, and work efficiency. Sleep-deprived individuals are more prone to car accidents, irritability, and impatience. Chronic lack of sleep is even linked to depression. Sleep improves memory, learning, and concentration. It extends life, improves quality of life, reduces inflammation, aids weight loss and maintenance, and boosts metabolism. Additionally, sleep reduces stress.

Different people require different amounts of sleep. The Rambam, may his memory be a blessing, wrote that adults generally need about 8 hours of sleep per night. Today, experts agree with this conclusion. It's crucial to ensure children get their needed sleep (as appropriate for their age), to emphasize its importance, and to instill this understanding in them.

If it takes you hours to fall asleep, before reaching for sleeping pills, focus on eating healthy—an important habit for good sleep. In recent years, many companies have started to produce a synthetic dietary supplement—melatonin hormone in a lozenge form. Over the past year, I've talked to many people, children, and families who began taking it since the onset of COVID-19 (our conclusions and reasons won't be discussed here), and indeed, this supplement is quite effective. However, it's crucial to understand how to encourage your body to naturally produce melatonin daily, with the help of sunlight, and prevent its depletion due to poor lifestyle habits like exposure to harmful blue light (LEDs, fluorescents, various screens), excessive radiation from mobile phones or Wi-Fi at home, and more.

For booking home events with the naturopath Ruth Liat Pelts without charge, call 073-2221290